Battery life, despite the Photon's girth, was disappointing—I only eked out several hours of heavy usage.

That said, this is a fantastic phone for Sprint users who want muscle. There's nothing unique about the Photon. Nothing at all. But that's really okay—it's sturdy, speedy, and a pleasure to use. And that's sort of remarkable in itself, amid a desolate landscape of identical black rectangles. If you can overlook battery crapitude, the $200 Photon is a bruiser worth lugging when it hits on the 31st.